Start Making Sense description

Jargon. Buzzwords. Acronyms. They’re things that make your readers go “huh?” And we need to get them out of our copy. Gobbledygook:

Illustrates that your organization may be in trouble. There may be a link between jargon and poor business performance, according to a study by Deloitte Consulting. In one test, Enron’s language got more and more obscure as the company got deeper and deeper into trouble.

Keeps the media from using your PR materials. Most Canadian journalists, for instance, believe that press releases filled with jargon frequently “get in the way” of their doing their jobs, according to a study by National Public Relations.

Forces your reader to translate. Your audience may be able to figure out what you’re saying. But why make them work that hard?

Demonstrates your ignorance. “When people don’t understand the material, they tend to go more with the original, often too-technical and undigested information from a primary source,” says Neita F. Geilker, Ph.D., a.k.a. “The Grammar Guru.” “A writer who really understands the information can translate it accurately into lay language.”

In today’s overloaded information environment, the best communicators are translators. In this handbook, you’ll learn to translate the language of your organization into the language of your readers.

With this manual, you’ll learn:

How to avoid having your audience delete your message before opening it

A four-step system for getting the gobbledygook out

How to determine when to use jargon to streamline communication — and when to avoid it at all costs

How to avoid telling your audience members that your communication is not for them

How to communicate when you don’t know who’s in your audience

What communicators at Coca-Cola, Fidelity Investments, Jenny Craig, CNS Bank, Hartford Investors, Aventis, The New York Times and other organizations have done to battle jargon

How to develop a style guide for your organization

A test you can use to determine which terms to use when pitching to trade publications

How to gain power in the approval process

A simple tool to add to every piece to make your copy more accessible

A trick to steal from NASA to make rocket science — or whatever you’re writing about — more accessible

How to solve the “visual duration-sensing apparatus” problem

How eavesdropping can make your copy easier to read

Techniques to steal from Warren Buffett to make complex financial information — as well as your organization’s technical terms — easier to understand

Two ways to use the words in your readers’ heads, not the words in your head

How to make sure your definitions aren’t more confusing than the original term

A technique to steal from Carnegie-Mellon University for clarifying your complex concepts

How your 12-year-old can help make your copy more comprehensible

Plus 17 resources for getting the gobbledygook out

And more tips for translating jargon

Remember: For your readers, clarity means never having to say “Huh?”

Reduce your learning curve

Ann’s learning tools are brisk and loaded with tips. In fewer than 44 minutes, you can be putting these techniques to work.

Plus, get Ann’s Start Making Sense cheat-sheet of formulas and checklists — all the action steps of the manual on one sheet of paper. Keep this checklist by your computer to use on every piece you write and edit. Our clients tell us that this job aide is one of the most valuable tools they receive for applying new skills to their daily writing.